Athens: Please support petition effort to ban fluoride from water supply

City residents should sign the petition to ban water fluoridation in Athens. This is because whether you’re convinced by the research that indicates that fluoride is good for you, or whether you’re convinced by the research that indicates fluoride is bad for you, the bottom line regarding the debate over whether or not the Athens City Council should continue to forcibly medicate us by adding fluoride to our city’s water supply is this:

The “fluoride” that is currently added to our city water is NOT the pharmaceutical grade “sodium fluoride” of which is added to most toothpastes — by the way, even the toothpaste companies print warnings on their labels not to swallow even sodium fluoride, and to only use topically. No, we are not drinking even the standard “sodium fluoride” found in toothpaste. The horrific fact about water fluoridation is that over 90 percent of U.S. cities (Athens included) uses industrial grade “hexafluorosilicic acid” obtained from the pollution scrubbing systems of the phosphate industry. This acid contains multiple heavy metals and toxins. By law, this waste cannot be dumped into the sea, but the federal EPA allows it to be diluted down with our public drinking water. This schizophrenic EPA loophole allows phosphate companies and waste contractors to make money by selling this acid to municipalities.

Fortunately, there is a divide within the EPA — they’re not all former waste management contractors and company owners who have lobbied their way into EPA positions (See www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=EPA’s_Revolving_Door). There is a union representing scientists at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., that has gone on record as opposing this strange form of hazardous waste management (see www.fluoridealert.org).

Our City Council knows this information, but refuses to stop poisoning our water. Our council president has decided that, to paraphrase, “Not enough people are concerned about it.”

So, in closing, I encourage Athens citizens to voice their concerns to council on this issue, and to sign the petition to stop water fluoridation in Athens. Five hundred signatures are required from Athens residents to put this issue on the ballot. The petition can be signed at 21 Kern St. between the hours of 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.